Wannabe Hobby Homesteader?

[Buckrun]

I hope it all right to put this in this forum.

Since I found this sight I have been reading a lot. I have made a couple posts but I haven’t gotten any input. I thought that I may need to introduce myself and a little history. I am afraid this may get kind of long.

I lived with my grandparents for 5 years, from the time I was 5 - 10 years old. During this time I learnt to value things. So I put sentimental value on things most people wouldn’t even think twice about.

My grandparents were raised on a farm. They always talked to me about someday moving back to the country and getting some chickens, sheep and other animals. So now 40 years later I am living the dream that they planted in me. I have 3 dogs. Jack Russell Terriers. Some chickens a rabbit and trying to think of a way to sneak some goats in past my wife. She is not an animal person. The garden is my farm crop. It seems to grow larger each year we live here. This year it went from 30’x 90’ to 55’x 90’. We have 4 apple trees that I have been trying to get trimmed back into shape. We own 3 acres and I have been thinking of a way to buy some more. It may be possible!
2 year ago I started doing a lot of canning. My favorite is tomato juice. I have canned a verity of different vegetables. Some have turned out good others, well we wont do that again.

I also hunt a lot. I make a trip to Georgia where I have family, to hunt deer. Last year I brought back 5 deer. I have been collecting the equipment to process my own meat. So my son and I made 30+ pounds of venison polish sausage last November. It is almost gone now. It was very good. Adventually I’d like to raise a hog and process it myself. I saw the PBS show on homesteading a couple years ago and thought that would be for me. Although I knew that my wife would never go for it. Well we have three acres with a small barn so I thought I would have my own smaller version. I don’t know if “Hobby Homesteading” is looked down on here, I hope not. Not everybody can (or would want to) drop their current lives and go hole hog into homesteading.

I have been working at my current job for 22 years. It is a military surplus electronic mail order store. The business seems to be dying so I took a part time job at a store called Menards. I really like working at the new place. As I work in the hardware department. I have also been a carpenter years ago. And have worked at this for 30 years on my own projects. So I am putting in 60 - 70 hours a week at my 2 jobs. As soon as I get some bills taken care of I hope to buy a lathe and milling machine so I can start doing some of my own gunsmithing. I have been reading and studying up on designing and building my own single shot rifles. Wouldn’t be able to sell them but it will be fun to hunt with rifles that I built myself. I have built a couple muzzleloaders from kits. These will be center fire rifles. May be design my own wildcat cartridges! I guess I have too many wants in this world.


I guess I have rambled long enough. Kind of long But I hope you enjoy this and now know me a little better. Got to get busy, things to do!

Steve

Welcome. Anybody who hunts, does carpentry, likes single shots, wildcats, cans, raises hogs, has a lathe and mill, and gunsmiths, can't be all bad. At least I'm not.

[Ed Norman]

Originally Posted by Unregistered

Welcome. Anybody who hunts, does carpentry, likes single shots, wildcats, cans, raises hogs, has a lathe and mill, and gunsmiths, can't be all bad. At least I'm not.

Hey, that was me. How did I get un-dis-logged in? I have been logged in since forever.

[Gayle in LA]

I think MOST of us would be considered "hobby homesteaders".......LOL

[BrushBuster]

very interesting interest!

[pointer_hunter]

I'm still working my way up to "hobby homesteader!" Welcome to the site!

[country friend]

Steve
I think it is great that there are other men that like homesteading. I myself like to garden, hunt , fish , raise my own meat and yes I do most of the cannig my wife dos some .
My wife and I own and live on 118 ac. farm we rent out 70 ac of it to another farmer for cash rent but we homestead the rest.
I have fruit trees, berries ,grapes , large garden and many animals we raise for meat. We have a nice farm pond for fish and pleanty of dear for hunting.
we live in southeastern Indiana so I dont think we are that far from you.
Indiana Country friend Jack Bunyard

[Carol K]

Hi and welcome Steve,
you sound like you are just the same as most of us, most of us have other jobs also, that's just the way it is.
We've only got a little over 5 acres also, live in NY and have chickens, Dexter cows, just picked up two 30lb piglets (soooo hard to find this year!!), have a go at pigs, they are fun and easy to do.
You found a good place to come to here, hope you enjoy it,

Carol K

[Buckrun]

Thanks for all the welcomes! I really have already learned a lot from this forum. I can only dream about owning lots of land. There is about 4 acres behind me that is part of a large parcel that a church owns. It is just a big thicket that has a gully running through it. Not suitable for anything the church may want. I want to save up and try to buy it. Then fence it in and fill it with goats to clean it up. This won’t happen anytime soon though. Once I get out of debt I don’t want to go their again.

Here some links to another forum that I have posted some pictures of my garden and chickens.

http://p086.ezboard.com/fpoultryinyo...picID=66.topic

http://p086.ezboard.com/fpoultryinyo...cID=1479.topic

[Torch]

That's one fine garden!

What do you do with the chickens and the rabbit? Is the rabbit just a pet?

[brosil]

I prefer the term Gentleman Farmer. Welcome.

[Buckrun]

As far as the chickens. I have been selling eggs. I get about 1 doz. each day. I only have been selling to friends and by word of mouth. I can’t hardly keep eggs for my own use. I have been growing and canning beets the last couple years because I love pickled eggs. I am planning making a big batch tomorrow. Shhhh don’t tell anybody I have saved a couple doz. eggs for this.

My next project will be making a pen in the barn to feed out some chicks to butcher. The rabbit is my daughters pet. Adventually I will be building a rabbit barn. This will not make my wife happy. But she will get over it.

Steve

[quietstar]

Steve: Welcome to a place where you belong. Lot'sa folks here with knowledge and experience and willing to help. From your introduction, I expect you will be able to contribute a lot. I think you are on a good track for the future. Keep it up....Glen

[zekell]

Just lately downloaded a PDF file on how to make a .50 Cal rifle. It looks like a real bad boy.

The file is over 5 megs, if you have an e'mail address that will take the load and want the plans give me an e'mail address to upload it to.

BTW had a nubian milk goat for awhile, finest kind, 'bout the spookiest eyes I ever been up close to, but was easy to get along with. Picked her up for weed control, wasn't great at that, prefered grain. She really liked sycamore tree leaves, gave her milk a mentholated taste.

She also had a thing 'bout tobacco, she used to nip my smokes out of my pocket and take off running, damndest thing, the goat liked to chew tobacco, so off we would go, me and the dog chasing this milk goat with a pack of ciggarettes in her mouth, all over the place.

Ha, glad nobody ever saw one of those little episodes.

[OUVickie]

Wow Steve, that's a nice looking place. If that's your barn it sure is a nice one.

Welcome to the forum. When we started we only had 1/2 acre, so, I think anything qualifies if your determined!

[kathy H]

You dont even need land to be a homesteader, all you need is a desire to do more for yourself. Welcome, I know what you mean about the goats I am still trying to talk hubby into a milk goat to.

[Homesteader]

Hey Steve! Welcome. Well you certainly sound like a homesteader to me. Do you subscribe to Countryside Magazine? If you don't, get a sub. now. Also come here often-you're among like folks now.

We have 2 1/2 acres in the desert southwest. Many challenges here due to the heat and of course everything must be watered here - no rain. But we do meat chickens, quail, eggs, we too have a large garden that is 5,000 sq. ft., and added dairy goats this year. Getting our first milk just in the last two weeks and it is so wonderful. Fruit trees have a hard time getting established but we do have an almond, a two-in-one nectarine/plum, two apples and a pear. The pear tree has yet to flower though. Will have a few almonds this year and about 6 apples, looks like 2 plums.

Wanted to do rabbits for meat until I realized I couldn't slaughter them. We'll add pigs eventually and are still discussing raising a beef calf.

DH works a full-time job 60 miles away. Have to have his income to pay for all the pens, barn, etc. getting set up. Been here five years now and what a transformation!

Did I get it right that your wife maybe isn't into the homesteading thing? Well, she'll come around. Have her check out the Countryside Families forum here, also called Melissa's forum.

The amount of land does not a homesteader make. It's the size of your dreams and visions and the working toward them that makes you a homesteader.

I thought my webshots photo gallery at the bottom of my posts was actually supposed to be a link but I guess not. To see our place go to http://community.webshots.com/user/homesteadernv

Welcome again from an old-timer (not in age, in time at this forum/and the previous one!)

[Montana Mom]

Welcome Steve!

[big rockpile]

Well has a Jack Russell thats good enough for me. Welcome!!!

big rockpile

[cowgirlone]

Welcome to the forum Steve!